You may not realize it, but you have a friend at the IRS. Her name is
Nina Olson, and she's the "Taxpayer Advocate." Olson and her
2,000-person staff are an independent organization within the IRS,
charged with cutting through IRS red tape when the Service can't get the
job done itself. Are you stuck between cogs in the IRS machine? Have
you experienced a delay of more than 30 days to resolve your issue? Have
you not received a response or resolution to your problem by the date
the IRS promised? If so, Nina Olson and her 1,400 Case Advocates
throughout the IRS are waiting to help.

Earlier this month, Olson released her 762-page Annual Report to Congress. And it's not pretty. In fact, it probably reads a lot like what your report on the IRS might read if your job was to dig up problems:

The tax system is a mess. It's nearly 4 million words long, with over 4,680 changes since 2001 -- an average of one per day. Complying with tax laws consumes the equivalent of 3 million
full-time workers annually. And only 16% of Americans think the tax
code is "fair." (That puts the tax code slightly above Congress, at 9%,
but still lagging Donald Trump, cockroaches, brussels sprouts, and NFL
replacement refs.) That 4-million word code tops the problem list -- her
report calls for overhauling the tax laws, eliminating "sunset" clauses
like the expiration of the Bush tax cuts that led to the recent "fiscal
cliff" crisis, and eliminating phase-outs that deny benefits as your
income increases.

The Alternative Minimum Tax, a parallel tax
system originally introduced to make sure that high-income taxpayers
don't take advantage of too many deductions and credits to skate by
without paying their fair share, is an even bigger mess. The AMT was
never indexed for inflation until this month's "fiscal cliff" bill, so
Congress repeatedly had to "patch" it to keep it from reaching even
further into the middle class. The result, Olson writes, "is one law
that grants popular tax benefits (the regular tax code), another law
that eliminates the benefits (the AMT), and then yet a third law that
undoes the elimination of benefits (the patches), usually at the last
minute -- a legislative Rube Goldberg contraption of unnecessary
complexity." Her recommendation? Scrap it.

"Customer service" is
a disgrace. Telephone and correspondence services have deteriorated
over the last decade. Online services are primitive. "Processing flaws"
and service delays are undermining taxpayers' rights to representation.
In some cases, IRS rules actually discourage taxpayers from complying
with the law. For example, the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program,
which lets taxpayers who failed to report foreign financial accounts
come clean, actually scares folks who inadvertently failed to report
them and keeps them from 'fessing up.

Finally, the IRS is
underfunded. (Yeah, we didn't think you would be as happy with this
one.) Olson likens the IRS to the government's "accounts receivable"
department, and reports that they bring in seven dollars for every extra
dollar they spend. "It is ironic and counterproductive that concerns
about the deficit are leading to cuts in the I.R.S. budget, when those
cuts are making the deficit larger," says Olson. "No business would fail
to fund a unit that, on average, brought in $7 for every dollar spent.
Shareholders would rebel and bring lawsuits, or at least oust the
management or board of directors."

Are you thoroughly depressed yet? It gets worse. That's because these are essentially the same recommendations Olson has made in every
Annual Report she's filed with Congress since 2001. And yet, we still
have an offensively complicated tax code, a ridiculously ineffective
Alternative Minimum Tax, and hideous thickets of bureaucracy that just
drain taxpayers' souls.

The solution for you, of course, is a proactive plan takes advantage of the code's hidden opportunities, steers clear of its hidden shoals, and keeps you out of the bureaucracy. If you don't have a plan yet, isn't it time you get one?

Kenneth
Hoffman counsels Entrepreneurs, Professionals and Select Individuals in
taking control of their taxes, and businesses. Discover how I can help
you overcome your tax and business challenges. To start the conversation
or to become a client, call Kenneth Hoffman at (954) 591-8290 Monday -
Friday between 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a no cost consultation, or
drop me a note.

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IRS Circular 230 Notice Requirement: This communication is not given in the form of a covered opinion, within the meaning of Circular 230 issued by the United States Secretary of the Treasury. Thus, we are required to inform you that you cannot rely upon any tax advice contained in this communication for the purpose of avoiding United States federal tax penalties. In addition, any tax advice contained in this communication may not be used to promote, market or recommend a transaction to another party.